AYN’s flagship gaming handheld confirms a massive screen upgrade

Gaming handhelds often live or die by their screens, and AYN has taken a unique approach with its handhelds this year. The dual-screened Thor turned heads for its design and pricing, but the larger 6-inch screen on the top mostly flew under the radar. Now, AYN has announced that its upcoming flagship Odin 3 will use the same “exclusive” panel.

The 6-inch 120Hz HD AMOLED panel is unique to AYN’s offerings, and the company likely had it custom-made for its devices this year. On July 30, a few weeks before the AYN Thor was announced, AYANEO CEO Arthur Zhang stated that there is no 6-inch OLED screen on the market, indicating that this is indeed custom hardware.

Typically, these gaming handhelds use a mix of leftover parts and designs from mobile phones. For example, the AYANEO Pocket DMG, Retroid Pocket Classic, and Retroid Pocket Mini V2 use the bottom screen of the LG Wing, which just so happens to be perfect for retro games.

This screen is likely to be one of the main selling points of the AYN Odin 3, and it’s a significant improvement over its predecessor. The Odin 2 had a 6-inch HD IPS LCD panel with a 60Hz refresh rate, so it’s nice to see the upgraded specs without an increase in size.

For comparison, the KONKR Pocket FIT, which is likely to be the main competitor for the Odin 3, uses a 6-inch HD IPS display with a 144Hz refresh rate. It’s very likely that we see more handheld manufacturers pick up this new 6-inch OLED panel in the coming months, but for now, it’s AYN’s ace in the sleeve.

We still don’t have full specs or pricing for the AYN Odin 3, but if the Thor rollout is any indication, we should learn more by the end of the week. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming days.